The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Bump in the Road

Ancient Scroll's horn flashed once and the Vardo rolled to a stop near the forest's edge.

Rouge had awoken the old stallion a bit ago and now she, Corona, and Ancient Scroll were just outside the caravan observing the treeline for any potential signs of danger.

So far they hadn't seen any, but that hadn't stopped their fur from standing on end.

"Well, what do you think, Ancient Scroll?" Rouge asked with a concerned frown, "Even with my sight, I'm unable to see any kind of threat within the forest, but little Corona here tells me she senses some hidden danger."

"Well I don't know for sure," Corona conceded, "It's not that I can sense some kind of danger, I just have a really bad feeling is all. I just don't think it's a good idea to enter the forest right now."

Ancient Scroll stroked his beard thoughtfully as he gaze out at the forest ahead. He took several moments to answer, but he eventually turned to Rouge with a serious expression.

"Do you think you and Yoji could scout ahead into the forest and see if there's anything out there?" the old stallion asked, "if there really is something out there, I think the both of you would be better suited to finding out what it is than I would."

"But you have magic on your side, Uncle Scroll," Corona pointed out, "and there's no way you wouldn't know how to defend yourself from whatever might be in the forest."

"The little one is right, Ancient Scroll," Rouge agreed with a nod, "I wouldn't sell yourself short. Your abilities certainly would come in handy should trouble arise."

Ancient Scroll shook his head and looked at Corona with a small smile.

"It's not that I can't protect myself," he corrected, "it's more that somepony needs to be here to protect you three fillies in case something does happen."

"Ah, that does makes sense," Rouge replied, nodding in understanding, "very well, old one, I will go ahead and search for any dangers lurking in the forest."

"I appreciate it, Rouge," Ancient Scroll responded with a grateful smile. He turned and headed back into the caravan, "I'll go wake Yoji and let him know the situation."

As the old stallion left, Corona turned to Rouge with a worried frown.

"Should I go wake up Twil -- er... Fia and Blue Moon?"

Rouge thought on it for a moment before giving a slow nod.

"I believe that may be a good idea for now," Rouge answered, "if there's something out there that means us harm, we don't want to be caught unaware."

Corona nodded and made her way back inside. Rouge watched her go for a moment before turning back to face the trees just ahead. She frowned and narrowed her eyes slightly -- her tail flicking back and forth in agitation.

"We've only just begun the journey and we may already be facing problems," she mused quietly, "this promises to be a very interesting trip indeed..."

She turned her head at the sound of heavy footsteps followed by a long loud yawn coming from behind her.

"Bit early to be runnin' into trouble already isn't it?" Yoji commented as he stepped out onto the platform next to Rouge, "barely got any sleep at all."

"Well you'd best hurry and wake yourself up," Rouge replied, not taking her eyes from the forest, "we need to be alert for any threats in the forest."

"Yeah, that's what the old coot told me," Yoji responded as he cracked his neck a few times, "it's weird though. I've been through this forest a few times and it's always been pr..."

Rouge frowned and turned to the old husky in confusion.

"Yojimbo?" she asked warily, "what's wrong?"

Yojimbo didn't answer.

He gave a few sniffs and growled slightly -- his one good eye scanning the area ahead.

"I know your nose ain't as good as mine, but you can't tell me you don't smell that," he muttered.

Rouge narrowed her eyes and gave a sniff of her own before widening her eyes.

"Blood..."

Yoji nodded grimly.

"And it's fresh."

"Rouge? Yoji?"

The cat and dog turned to see a concerned Ancient Scroll, a worried Corona, and a tired looking Fia and Blue Moon all standing just inside the Vardo behind them.

"What's going on?" Fia asked, "Sunset -- Corona told us there might be a problem?"

"Blue Moon needs more sleep before she can deal with another crisis," the light blue filly muttered with a yawn, "the Sun isn't even out yet. Can't it wait until later?"

Yoji gave a small chuckle before turning to Ancient Scroll with a serious frown.

"There's something out there, Scroll," he said matter-of-factly, "I don't know what it is, but something in that forest is bleeding... a lot."

"I can smell it, too," Rouge added, "but I still can't see anything, which must mean whatever is out there must be further inside the forest."

The pair's words snapped the two tired fillies out of their sleep deprived stupor and all three of the girls turned nervous gazes to Ancient Scroll.

"Uncle Scroll, what's going on?" Fia asked more urgently, "what are they talking about?"

"I don't want to worry you all too much," Ancient Scroll repilied with an apologetic but grim frown, "but we might have a problem on our hooves, little filly," he nodded in Rouge and Yojimbo's direction, "they're gonna scout ahead and check the forest for us while I stay here and make sure nothing happens to you girls."

"Alright," Corona replied tentatively, "but what do you think it could be, Uncle Scroll?"

"Maybe it's just some wild animal that got ahold of it's prey?" Fia suggested with a nervous smile, "I mean, it is a pretty large forest and--"

Everyone whipped their heads around to face the forest as a sudden inequine shriek rang out in the distance immediately followed by a very equine scream. It was suddenly cut short and for a few moments, no one spoke a word.

"...That didn't sound like any wild animal Blue Moon has ever heard," Blue Moon finally whispered in a shaky voice, "that sounded more like somepony was..."

Yojimbo's frown deepened and he suddenly heaved himself over the railing of the platform and hit the ground below at a dead sprint.

"Rouge, you comin' or what?!" he cried as he booked it towards the forest.

"Yoji, wait a blasted..." Ancient Scroll tried to call out, but the husky was already too far away, "horseapples. Now I remember why we'd gotten into so much trouble back then..."

He shook his head and turned to the Abyssinian.

"Rouge can you--"

"I'll make sure he doesn't get himself killed," Rouge interjected with a nod, "just make sure you keep the little ones safe."

Ancient Scroll nodded in return and Rouge leapt over the railing and took off after the reckless husky. The old stallion then turned back to the fillies with a grave expression.

"Girls, I want you to stay in your room until I say it's safe to come outside, do you understand?"

"But what are you going to do?" Blue Moon asked worriedly, "you're not staying out here, are you?"

"That I am, little filly," he replied, "I need to make sure nothing gets the jump on us while Rouge and Yojimbo are investigating whatever happened in the forest."

"But--"

"Now, don't you worry about me, Blue Moon," Ancient Scroll said, his grim frown softening a bit, "I may be an old stallion, but that's only made my magic stronger. Just get back to your room, the three of you, and wait until I give the okay to leave, alright?"

Blue Moon wanted to say more, but Fia put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head sadly.

"Let's just do what Uncle Scroll says for now, Blue Moon," she said quietly, "I'm just as worried as you are, but there's nothing we can do right now."

"She's right," Corona added, turning back towards the inside of the caravan, "Let's let Uncle Scroll handle it from here."

Blue Moon looked between the other two before turning back to Ancient Scroll -- a look of indecision briefly crossing her face. After a moment she frowned and nodded.

"Alright, Uncle Scroll," she finally replied, "just... don't die okay?"

"I'll be fine, little filly," Ancient Scroll promised before looking to Corona, "you're the oldest filly out of you lot, Corona. That means it's your responsibility to make sure Fia and Blue Moon don't do anything reckless, got it?"

Corona turned her head to look back at Ancient Scroll and nodded with a determined frown.

"I won't let you down, Uncle Scroll."

"There's a good filly," the old stallion replied with a grateful smile, "now get going, all of you."

Fia and Blue Moon hesitated a moment longer before turning to follow Corona back inside. Ancient Scroll's smile sank back into a serious frown once more as he watched them go. He sighed and turned back around to face the forest. His horn suddenly sparked to life with a brilliant white aura and he gritted his teeth in concentration.

With a bright flash of light and a high-pitched thrum, a shining white dome expanded outward to cover the Vardo and the area roughly forty yards around it. The dome pulsed a few times before fading away.

Ancient Scroll gave a soft grunt as the wavering white light around his horn shifted to a bright green glow. A large circle of bright green light about the same size as the dome faded into existence. It flashed once, then twice, then died down after the third time leaving a large, slowly rotating magic circle that faded back out after a few seconds.

He let the light fade from his horn and fell to his knees as he panted heavily for a moment. After he had caught his breath, he stood back up and shook himself to get rid of the slight disorientation the casting of the spells had caused.

"Haven't used those spells in ages," the old stallion muttered to himself, "forgot how much that takes out of me, but it'll be more than worth it if it saves our hides..."

Though he had greatly limited the range to save on mana, Field Perception and Pure Barrier were two powerful Soul and Light Magic spells Ancient Scroll had used countless times in the past to save himself and his companions in tight situations.

He had wondered if this was a bit much for the current circumstances, but given the ponies coming after Twilight and the blood curdling screams in the forest, he decided not to take any chances.

As he sat on the small wooden platform focusing his enhanced senses on the area around him, he couldn't help but worry for both his old and new friends as they scoured the forest for the source of whatever had caused the screaming.

He sat up a bit straighter and grimaced as he resisted the urge to look back towards the darkened forest once again.

You two had better make it back to this caravan in one piece...

Author's Note:

Action is coming...

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

8891333
Well it's good to hear one is appreciated, sometimes conversation on the internet feels like shouting into a void. As to my chatter, I'll try to keep it to a low roar, once I get going I'm quite verbose; and I'd hate to bury your comment section in arcane academia.

On a different note, might you be interested in a brainteaser? To see how far we can stretch magical logic.

cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/006/603/009/large/mu-yi-jun-7-3-2-1920-1024.jpg?1499857136

Now what this clever fellow is doing is, in fact, quite possible; if ludicrously impractical, and it is being done without a whit of telekinesis. How is he accomplishing it? why/how can it be interfered with? Here's a hint, it requires a profound understanding of summoning magic. And no, it is not a conjuration.

[the7Saviors]

8893838
My immediate thought when you mentioned that it wasn't telekinesis was to say that he was manipulating gravity to pull whatever that thing is down from the sky, but then you mention it required a profound knowledge of summoning magic. On top of that, there's the issue of not really know what that is in the background.

Unfortunately without more context, I am stumped as to what he could be doing. And if you'll allow me to be completely candid, you most likely have a much better grasp of how magic would work on a purely logical level than I do. As much as I loved creating a magic system and as practical and functional as I'm trying to make it, I am no student of the arcane arts.

Sure I can create the system and give explanations about how a spell works, but that's only true for the magic system that I create within my own universe. If there are fundamental laws of magic that are the same in every work of fiction that uses a magic system, then I may not know of them, even if I do end up following them.

If these universal laws exist and I don't follow them, then I apologize, but like I said, I'm no expert on the subject -- far from it. Regardless though, the subject does interest me and I'd like to know more about it.

[Birribi]

but he eventually turned to Rouge with serious expression

Missing 'a'

she muse quietly

mused

The pair's words snapped the two tired fillies out of there sleep deprived stupor

their

but what do you think could be

Missing 'it'

she said quiet

quietly

his old and new friend as they scoured

friends

[Venerable Ro]

Obligatory out-of-place-comment comment, ah the dangers of starting a comment chain.

Anyway don't recall if this was addressed earlier, but a unicorn's magic changes color depending on the type of magic he uses? Or is Scroll a special case?

[the7Saviors]

8926615
It depends. Some branches of Magic don't change the color at all, such as Mind Magic, Soul Magic, and most Time Magic. Others, like Dark Magic, Light Magic, and some Elemental Magic do.

[56]

"Maybe it's just some wild animal that got ahold of it's prey?"

its

[Chibalt]

8978939
"It's" is the correct word there, using "its" would not work.